Posted
by
samzenpuson Thursday March 28, 2013 @09:01PM
from the nice-day-for-a-flight dept.

skade88 writes "The New York Times is reporting that the United States has started flying B-2 stealth bomber runs over South Korea as a show of force to North Korea. The bombers flew 6,500 miles to bomb a South Korean island with mock explosives. Earlier this month the U.S. Military ran mock B-52 bombing runs over the same South Korean island. The U.S. military says it shows that it can execute precision bombing runs at will with little notice needed. The U.S. also reaffirmed their commitment to protecting its allies in the region. The North Koreans have been making threats to turn South Korea into a sea of fire. North Korea has also made threats claiming they will nuke the United States' mainland."

It's still on an ongoing issue in those parts. Driving through Saginaw/Midland area a few years ago lots of residents had signs in their front yards demanding Dow cleanup their Dioxin mess, especially houses near the Tittabawasee river. Weather or not it's really an issue? I have no idea. But people are still seem to be concerned about it.

Had a pretty good game with Farmville? You mean they did a pretty good job of copying/ripping off Farm Town? I'm quite happy to see Zynga go rigtht down the toilet. They deserve it. Even Mafia Wars was a copy cat of another game.

Curseyoukhan writes: "Norton released its annual cybercrime report on Wednesday, and the company put the “direct costs associated with global consumer cybercrime at US $110 billion over the past twelve months.” Last year’s report put the total “at an annual price of $388 billion globally based on financial losses and time lost." That's more than the estimated value of the global black market in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined ($288 billion), the report said.But Norton makes no mention of the vast difference in 2011 and 2012 numbers. That's because last year’s number was entirely fictitious."Link to Original Source

We've had several hard drive failures in the last few months and I've used HP's online chat every time to get them replaced. When I call HP, I'm usually on the phone for a t least 15 minutes listening to on-hold music. On the Chat, my wait is rarely more than two minutes. On the downside, I'm often waiting for them to respond, but it's easier for me to do other things while waiting on the chat than it would be on the phone.

I agree. I use Dell's support chat every week. I hate calling them but for a different reason, I always seem to have a hard time understanding the person on the other end of the line.

I had a worthless boss at a job I left, I requested an exit interview with the head of HR. They didn't normally do exit interviews, but I had been there for 6 years, so they wanted to know why I was leaving. Took a few months after I left to find time for a meeting, but I laid it all out. How I felt, why I left... 2 months later I got a call to come back. They fired my old boss after I opened their eyes to the BS he was pulling. I went back.. with a nice raise and a $4k signing "bonus". It works in certain cases. YMMV.

Velcroman1 writes: Other than the shifty eyes and faint smell of cheap aftershave, it’s often hard to identify a patent troll. The derogatory term "patent troll" describes a company established as a legal entity solely to make cash through patent lawsuits — stifling creativity and emptying the bank accounts of even the smartest Silicon Valley start-up. According to a 2011 report by the Boston University School of Law, patent trolls have cost U.S. companies about $500 billion in lost capital. Drew Curtis, the founder of Fark.com, calls them terrorists to be avoided at all costs. “It boils down to one thing: don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Curtis said during a talk at the TED 2012 conference in Long Beach, Calif. He explained how he won a patent dispute over e-mail newsletters by refusing to settle.Link to Original Source

Myself and a co-worker were just discussing this topic. At my previous job, I would took a box full of old HDD's, several boxes of Winchester whitebox ball ammo (9MM) and my Springfield XD-9 out behind my parents house (who live out in BFE). What a blast. The only problem is the mess it makes. It's by far the most entertaining way I've ever disposed of hard drives.

Posted
by
Soulskillon Friday February 19, 2010 @07:11AM
from the saddle-up dept.

BanjoTed writes "In a move to counter sales of pre-owned games, EA recently revealed DLC perks for those who buy new copies of Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Now, PlayStation platform holder Sony has jumped on the bandwagon with similar plans for the PSP's SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3. '[Players] will need to register their game online before they are able to access the multiplayer component of the title. UMD copies will use a redeemable code while the digital version will authenticate automatically in the background. Furthermore ... anyone buying a pre-owned copy of the game will be forced to cough up $20 to obtain a code to play online."

Posted
by
Soulskillon Wednesday January 06, 2010 @01:41AM
from the well-met-warden dept.

ishanjain tipped news that BioWare has announced an expansion for Dragon Age: Origins, called Awakening, that is due out on March 16th. Awakening "is supposed to run about 15 hours and will allow for players to import and edit characters they've broken in from the core game," and it will take place "in the in the role of a Grey Warden Commander who's been tasked with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and finding out how the darkspawn survived following the death of the Archdemon dragon." A trailer is available at the official site, as well as some information on a new bit of DLC that will be out shortly, entitled Return to Ostagar. (It was originally due for release on January 5th, but was delayed.)